Park City senior Carson Baynes watched as a high punt sailed into the Park City evening sky with his team leading 9-0 in the second quarter. Baynes caught the punt, ran to his left around a couple of Green Canyon defenders and found a hole. Baynes kept his legs churning, cut back to his right and raced past the rest of Green Canyon’s punt coverage for a Park City touchdown.
“I saw a little seam open up,” Baynes said. “I saw all my teammates blocking for me. There were great blocks out there. But, yeah, I saw a little hole on the right, and I got a grin on my face and just knew that I could take it.”
Baynes’ 62-yard punt-return touchdown and a pair of receiving touchdowns for fellow senior Campbell Garner gave Park City 21 points in the second quarter. That and another stellar defensive performance from Park City propelled the Miners past Green Canyon for a 30-6 win on Friday at Dozier Field. The Miners are 3-0 heading into their region opener on the road against East.
“It was really good,” Garner said. “We’ve just been waiting to execute, and we finally did today. And it felt really good.”
However, a big win for Park City on Friday night ended with a somber mood after senior quarterback Chase Beyer left the game with an injury. Beyer suffered the injury in the fourth quarter during an interception return and left the game on a stretcher.
“He was able to go home last night,” Park City coach Josh Montzingo said in a text message Saturday morning. “He is very sore but doing well.”
Park City grabbed an early lead after forcing a three and out on defense to start the game. Green Canyon lined up to punt, but a low snap eventually rolled past the punter and out the back of the end zone for a safety and a 2-0 Park City advantage less than a minute into the game.
The Miners’ defense continued its torrid start to the season, and Green Canyon could barely muster a new set of downs, let alone any points. Park City shut out the Wolves in the first half and has allowed just 23 points in three games to start the season. The Miners led 30-0 in the fourth quarter before Green Canyon snapped their shutout bid.
“We had a lot of returners this year, so we knew our defense was going to be good,” Baynes said. “I don’t think anyone expected us to be this good, though. It’s just fun out there. We play as one, we all get hyped for each other, we all fly to the ball. It’s just a great time.”
An up-and-down first half for the offense included a revolving door at the quarterback position. Montzingo replaced Beyer in the second quarter with senior Maximilian Grizzell, who led the Miners down the field. He tossed a touchdown pass to Garner on his first drive for a 9-0 Park City lead. Grizzell and Garner had previously built chemistry with each other playing JV together, and their connection was on full display on Friday.
“It felt so good, especially my buddy Max,” Garner said. “We were on JV last year just balling out together. And to have our first varsity touchdown together was just great. It felt really good.”
However, Grizzell threw an interception in the end zone on his next drive, and Beyer was back in for the next possession. With the Miners up 16-0 after Baynes’ punt-return touchdown, Beyer responded late in the second quarter by throwing a deep touchdown pass that only Garner could catch in the end zone on fourth down and long in Green Canyon territory. The Miners led 23-0 through two quarters.
“This was (Garner’s) night,” Montzingo said. “He did a good job going up (and) high-pointing the ball. Each quarterback put a ball up there that was very catchable for him to go to. It was really nice to see him put that together tonight.”
The Miners put the game out of reach on their first possession of the second half. Senior Mason Grover ripped off a couple of long runs, and Beyer capped off the drive by throwing a touchdown pass to his twin brother, Brayden, for a 30-0 Park City lead. But the Miners know they will have a stiff challenge next week against East.
“It’s always good to be on a three-game winning streak,” Montzingo said. “But now, it’s starting over again with 0-0. We’re going into (region play), and I’m excited for the opportunity to play some really, really good teams. It’s going to be a tough stretch.”